Judicial probe ordered into Orissa police firing

Bhubaneswar, March 23 (IANS) A police officer has been suspended and a judicial probe ordered into an incident of police firing that left one person dead and several injured in Orissa’s Dhenkanal district, authorities said Monday. The officer in charge of the local police station has been suspended and Rs.100,000 ex-gratia payment has been announced for the family of the victim, an official statement said.

“A judge of the rank of district judge will conduct the probe,” it said.

Duryodhan Malik, 45, was killed and several people injured when police opened fire on a mob that attacked a police station and set vehicles on fire in Bhuban town, 110 km from here, Sunday.

Nearly 400 people were protesting the mysterious death of a class 10 student Bimalendu Nayak whose body was found in a pond at Dhenkanal, 80 km from Bhuban.

Dhenkanal police chief S.K. Gajbhiye said people in the town suspected it to be a case of murder and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. “The mob pelted stones at the police station and set fire to vehicles.”

“Police tried to disperse the mob by resorting to a baton-charge but it did not work. Police were forced to opened fire,” he said.